PAINTED BRONZE
77 x 28 x 29 INCHES
COURTESY OF THE NANCY A. NASHER AND DAVID J. HAEMISEGGER COLLECTION
Jim Dine's bronze sculpture titled The Field of the Cloth of Gold takes its name from the so-called place in France that was the site of the diplomatic meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France in 1520. The lavishness of the accommodations each monarch brought to the location—dazzling tents and clothes, elaborate feasts, jousting, music, and games—no doubt contributed to the nickname of the area known as the "field of the cloth of gold."
The form of the sculpture irresistibly recalls Alexandros of Antioch’s Venus de Milo. Borrowing the marble figure's contrapposto stance, the drapery of her skirt and even the missing limbs (broken and lost over time—the Venus de Milo dates to 130 B.C.). Dine updates the marble sculpture with his bronze version through the roughened surface and the application of brightly colored paint. The Venus de Milo was made in the image of the Goddess of Love and was thought to represent the ideal of beauty in ancient Greece. By removing the head of Venus in his bronze version, Dine allows you to see yourself in this sculpture, similar to the way mannequins in store windows allow you to project your image onto them.
